Child of the Jungle
by steakalicious
Summary: (Requested by coyoteprime1100) Steven, a young child, was raised by the wolves in the jungle. There he meets all sorts of friends within- and enemies as well. Can Steven survive through the dangers of the jungle? (Jungle Book AU)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was spring yet again, but Rose couldn't hunt with the pack. The older members had already brought the young members on a hunting trip, getting enough meat for the whole pack with their kills. Rose didn't know about this beforehand. Nobody had told her about it, let alone invited her to come. When Rose asked about it, the other wolves had changed the subject.

Nobody wouldn't say it directly, but Rose already knew why they didn't want her to hunt with the rest of the pack. Rose was the leader, a figure who was idolized, and revered. Someone who all the cubs looked up to. They were family, and yet the members of the pack always seemed to treat her so delicately. They kept their distance, yet they always stepped in front if anyone seemed to threaten them.

It wasn't too hard to figure the reasons behind their actions. They wanted to keep her safe, because of their respect for her. It was nice, to feel that so many had wanted to keep her safe from harm, though strange. After all, she had known them for much longer than she had been the guardian. Still, keeping in one place had started to feel suffocating.

She had known that walking out of her home would worry her packmates, but it would only be for a short while. It was worth it, in any case, to get out to the rest of the jungle. It was so deep, and so large, that every new walk into it brought her new experiences. Strange bugs with iridescent wings, frogs smaller than her nose, and colorful birds that moved so fast that their wings became a blur. Every creature that was in the jungle was so wonderful and interesting, and she didn't understand why her packmates couldn't see the beauty of it all.

As she walked, she noticed a particularly unique scent cutting through the thick, humid air. She didn't know what it was, but it was definitely something foreign. A new animal, completely unique and different from anything that she had ever encountered. It wasn't too far from her, only a little ways north.

Rose stalked through the the woods, the scent thick in her nose. She listened carefully, blocking out the sounds of the life surrounding her. The birds, the insects, and the monkeys blended into background noises as she took careful notice of the softer sounds.

In the distance, she heard the screech of a young creature.

As she ran towards the sound, she could smell the animal. It was a smell unlike anything she had encountered before. There was also another wolf close to the creature, one she had never met. The smell that wafted forth as she was running told her that the other wolf was female, but she didn't know what pack she belonged in. There was also the smell of death close to the young creature. Despite Rose's better judgement, she charged forth. Hunting to eat was one thing, but killing young cubs was out of the question.

When she had ran up close enough to see the creature, the other wolf was already running away. She had to let her run away, as she didn't want to initiate any kind of conflict, even though she had many questions for her. The other wolf leaving did benefit her though, leaving her alone to investigate this new animal. The animal was crawling from the entrance of a cave out to the sunlight. Deeper within the cave, the smell of death wafted close towards her. It was of a dead human, and it was strong enough to coat everything with it's scent.

The animal was young, but it was difficult to tell just how young. The smell led her to think that the animal was probably male. There was no hair or fur on him leaving him completely bare to the elements, the sunlight hitting the soft pink skin. The paws were more a lot like monkey's hands, yet only on the top part of the limbs. The bottom half of the animal's limbs seemed as if they had no point. The creature was a complete puzzle to her, and he amazed her every time she had looked at him. She wondered what the other wolves would think if she brought him to them.

The creature was still making noises, crying out loudly in distress. Rose guessed that these cries were what drew the other wolf to him as well. He didn't seem to be injured, so Rose guessed that he was hungry. It made sense- a creature like that couldn't hunt anything or even climb a tree on it's own with those stubby legs.

Rose sniffed the animal closer to get more information. As her nose lightly touched his stomach, he started to giggle. Rose realised she was wrong. This wasn't a unique creature at all. It was nothing but a young human. She thought that the scent of humans was only due to the death of one, but it clearly wasn't the case. She was shocked, she had no idea that a young human would look so strange.

Humans had been terrifying to her packmates, with their weapons and nad other monstrous contraptions. They had killed her species before, and other animals in the jungle as well. She held no resentment or fear towards them, but respected their feelings. She was also wary towards them as well, especially since she had only seen fully grown humans before.

With a pain in her heart, she realized that the dead human and the living child might have been family. It could have been his mother or father, and the little child would have never known. There wasn't anybody around to care for him, human parents or otherwise. She couldn't help but think of her own family, and her parents. How her parents cared for her, and kept her away from danger. She huffed to herself, realizing she had to make her choice. She needed to decide between the approval of her pack, and the safety of the young human.


	2. Chapter 2

(A/N: Yes, this is a Jungle Book AU, but there will be some changes here and there to spice it up! Just giving you a heads up. Also, I apologize in advance if new episodes make the Diamonds in this fanfic OOC.)

Chapter 2

Of course, there was only one thing she could have done. She didn't know if she could live with herself if she really left that child alone. The other wolf being there first only proved to her in her mind that she needed to hold responsibility and care for him. If she had got there a minute later, there might not have been anything left of him. She'd need to keep by him, to scare off anybody in the jungle from trying to harm him.

Unfortunately, that would be nearly impossible if she didn't get the elders to agree with her. Though she was well respected, she still needed approval from the older members of the pack before she could let a new member into a pack (even if it was just a cub.) It was the rule passed down generation to generation, and there would be no escaping it now.

When she had brought the child to the elders and explained her situation, they had all expressed their disapproval. Blue Diamond and White Diamond looked wary, and Pink Diamond looked as if she was minutes away from mauling the child herself. It was exactly as she expected.

"Rose, I thought you would understand," one of the other elders, Pink Diamond, said, looking at her straight in the eyes. It was a bold gesture of challenge, much too bold for someone of Rose's stature. She wouldn't be the first to break her gaze.

"I do understand. We are so afraid of humans that we are letting it cloud our judgement," Rose said, keeping her tone strong, but not aggressive. "If anything, we would learn from this child more about the humans, and we wouldn't have to be so afraid anymore."

"Learning their weak points?" another elder, White Diamond, piped in.

It wasn't entirely what Rose meant, but she nodded anyways. If it got the elders to agree with her, she wouldn't argue with their wording, however harsh. She knew that all three had much more negative experiences with humans in the past than she did. She would have to take small steps towards changing their mind.

"It is dangerous, Rose," Pink Diamond said, a bit of growl in her voice, looking away from Rose to glare at the child. "That _human_ will be the death of this pack."

Rose could only stare up at the elders, unsure what to say. Neither of the other elders seemed like they wanted to disagree with Pink Diamond.

A loud giggle broke the silence between them. The child was giggling, babbling with strange sounds. He was wriggling in the ground, smiling up and the elders. Pink Diamond only stared at it, confused.

"Does he really seem so dangerous to you?" Rose asked.

White Diamond looked amused, and her shoulders became less tense. Pink Diamond just scrunched up her nose in disgust. Blue Diamond was, as always, unreadable.

"I think that this could turn out wonderfully, or go horribly wrong," White Diamond said, "Either way, I would like to see what would happen."

" . . . Yes. If White Diamond thinks so, I will agree to it. Whatever happens, though, is your responsibility, Rose Quartz," Blue Diamond said.

Pink Diamond looked at them in shock.

"Are you really going to allow this? If Yellow Diamond was here-"

"She is not here," White Diamond said, "and that is a good thing. She was exiled for a reason, Pink Diamond. You _know_ that."

Blue Diamond nodded in agreement, and if it wouldn't be disrespectful, Rose would as well. Yellow Diamond was violent, cruel, and unforgiving. She began to abuse her power, and become almost a tyrannical force over the pack. She had even forced the elder's assistants, the Pearls, to do all of her dirty work. Before her, the pack was much more like a family, with little to no fighting between members.

"I am sorry, White Diamond," Pink Diamond said, sighing. "You are right."

White Diamond nodded, pleased.

"I accept your apology."

Blue Diamond gazed down at Rose and the child, tilting her head slightly in thought. The child tried to crawl towards her, and Rose put her paw in the way to stop him.

"Since the majority of us agree, you may keep the thing," Blue Diamond said.

Rose started to wag her tail, looking at the child with excitement.

"Thank-"

"However," White Diamond interrupted. "You must come back to us with updates at least once a moon."

Pink Diamond looked at her, frustrated.

"You always act like this. Are you really just allowing this for your own entertainment?"

"Do not tell me that you are not curious, Pink Diamond," White Diamond replied.

Pink Diamond snorted, looking back at Rose.

"I expected much better of you, Rose Quartz," she said,

She turned back, ducking her head below the vines to go back to the cave that the elders lived in.

Blue Diamond started to stretch as well, preparing to head back.

"Thank you, my diamonds," she said, bowing down, "I won't- I will not forget this."

She cursed her luck, hoping that the elders would not notice her slip in formality.

"You are welcome," Blue Diamond said, leaving to the cave.

White Diamond looked back, the vines blocking her sight from the cave behind her.

"Before I go, what are you going to name it?"

Rose's tail stopped wagging. She really wished that the elders would stop calling her cub an it, but she thought it best not to push her luck any further by correcting them. She looked towards the child, looking at his round, hairless face and chubby little body. It was hard to think of a proper jungle name to give to him. He was simply too human.

"Steven," Rose decided.

White Diamond widened her eyes.

"A human name?" She barked a laugh, "My, you are much more interesting than I thought, Rose Quartz."

" . . . Thank you."

"Of course," she said, going back to the cave with the other elders.

She scooped Steven up to sit on her back. It was time for he to show Steven his new home.


End file.
